UW Roster Review, No. 0-99: Fowler Hopes to Make People Pay for His Services

The inside linebacker passed up nearly two-dozen scholarships to takes his chances with the Huskies.

Drew Fowler still has a recruiting profile found online that's as long as Asa Turner's hair.

An impressive 24 college football programs are listed in his template for showing interest in the one-time inside linebacker from Bellevue High, the same suburban Seattle school that prepared Myles Jack, David DeCastro, Jake Eldrenkamp, Drew Sample, Stephen Schilling, Budda Baker and even Bill Cahill for the collegiate ranks and the NFL.

Twenty-one of them reportedly offered Fowler a scholarship or some sort of financial assistance. 

He toured four of them. 

An old story in the archives details how UCLA waited breathlessly for Fowler to decide on whether or not to accept the Bruins' late scholarship opportunity.

Utah, Utah State, Oregon State, Wyoming, Rice, Hawaii and Louisville dangled money in front of him, too.

Two of the three service academies beckoned him. 

Big Sky schools wanted him.

Ivy League schools were waiting with open arms.

With so many college football suitors to deal with, Fowler couldn't be faulted for this process taking him forever to sort through the offers and get back to them.

"Two roads diverged and I took the one less traveled," the linebacker finally tweeted, crossing up everyone who was waving scholarship papers.

He chose Washington.

The Huskies were  one of his three pursuers — Stanford and Wisconsin were the others — who dealt in welcome words only, not dollar support.

In 2019, Fowler became a preferred walk-on for the UW and redshirted that first season.

“Two roads diverged and I took the one less traveled by...”

Blessed to be committed to the University of Washington ☔️🐺 pic.twitter.com/YBM8rOirq8

— Drew Fowler (@drewfowler44) February 6, 2019

The big question was why?

“For me it was about that indescribable gut feeling that a place fits everything you’re looking for," Fowler told one of the recruiting analysts. 

Going down the roster in numerical order, this is another of our post-spring assessments of all of the Husky talent at hand, gleaned from a month of observations, as a way to keep everyone engaged during the offseason.

The 6-foot-1, 220-pound Fowler wears No. 54, a number he has to himself on the roster, but one worn by one of the most decorated and accomplished Husky linebackers in school annals — Dave Hoffmann of the 1991 national championship team.

So two years later, has he fallen through the depth-chart cracks without a scholarship to protect him, never to be heard from again?

Actually, no.

Drew Fowler (54) is part of the linebacker competition / UW Athletics

Fowler appears right on schedule. The redshirt freshman spent spring training as a backup linebacker. He started next to Eddie Ulofoshio on the Gold team in the spring game, coming up with three tackles. He looks filled out, wise to the UW system.

Last fall, Fowler was one of a limited number of Huskies who appeared in all four games of the pandemic-shortened season, making his college debut with 10 others in the opener against Oregon State.

Those Beavers offered one of the three Pac-12 scholarships that came his way and was rejected.

“When I’d go to other schools or think about other schools and make that pro and con list, one of the cons was always, ‘Well, it’s not UW,’” Fowler told the Seattle Times.

Sorting through nearly two-dozen scholarship offers would make anyone weary, but Fowler hopes he's not done.

He'd like one more. 

Just one more.

Fowler's 2021 Outlook: Projected reserve inside linebacker

UW Service Time: Played in 4 games

Stats: None

Individual Honors: Not yet

Pro Prospects: None yet

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